In times of turmoil, music can clarify a moment and a feeling, or at least briefly cut through the noise. And as California has been under siege by newly aggressive federal immigration enforcement by masked agents, a biting hip-hop track called “Kids in Cages” by the Neighborhood Kids has gone viral, reflecting on this drama from the perspective of those being hunted.
In a video clip shared widely on Instagram these last few weeks, a young couple of Latino rappers from San Diego — named Amon the MC and Verde — face the camera to recite a confrontational rhyme from an urban pedestrian bridge made of concrete and chain-link fence:
“We are the hard workers … We are the ones that’ll work in construction
And we are the ones that’ll fix your destruction
And we are the ones that pick fruit on your table
And we are the ones that been given a label
And we are the ones that you’re blaming
For taking your jobs, whatcha pay me?
We are the ones working minimum wages
And we are the ones with our kids in the cages.”
The track was originally self-released by the Neighborhood Kids in 2023, but found renewed resonance as Americans in Los Angeles and across the country watched alarming video of day laborers, construction workers and restaurant employees being swept up in raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. It caught the attention of several established musicians, including Cat Power and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, who shared the clip with their devoted social media followings.
The song first emerged from a freestyle rhyme during a band rehearsal, then was recorded with rapid-fire vocals from the two rappers, a beat created by turntablist DJ JG, and blasts of swirling electric guitar from Niko Rosy. It first appeared on their 2023 EP, “Every Child Left Behind.” The song’s title, “Kids in Cages,” was taken from the first Trump administration’s notorious policy that separated immigrant children from their parents and warehoused them in makeshift chain-link holding cells.
“People think that it started just now,” says Verde, who appears in the video clip in a T-shirt emblazoned with an Aztec god, her hair twisted into braids. “This has been years of this, and we just feel this rage. And it’s OK to feel upset.”
The song’s focus on working-class immigrants was the point, reflecting their core mission of testifying for those without a voice.
“Some people are like, ‘Oh, but we’re also doctors and lawyers’ and all these things, but these are the people that are getting snatched up,” says Amon. “These are the people that don’t get the light of day, the unsung heroes that really make this nation work, make this nation what it is. And that’s why we had to really shout them out and let the people know.”
Amon says the track has deeply connected now because “there’s a collective outrage, not just with what’s going on with the mass deportation and raids with ICE, but it’s the dehumanizing [aspect] of it and, and the separation of families.
“People think it’s just happening to the Latino and the Mexican communities. But people forget about the Filipino, the Taiwanese, the Vietnamese, and the Haitians here. There’s so many communities that are affected by it.”
Neighborhood Kids perform at the Echoplex in Los Angeles. (L to R) Rappers Amon the MC and Verde, with bassist Emmerson, They were among the acts recruited by Tom Morello to perform at his “Defend LA” fundraiser and act of protest in response to recent ICE raids in Los Angeles. The Neighborhood Kids are a hip-hop group from San Diego.
(Steve Appleford)
When Morello quickly organized a last-minute concert called Defend L.A. at the Echoplex for June 16, both as an act of protest and a fundraiser for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, he called on several like-minded artists, including B-Real of Cypress Hill and Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova. He also connected with the Neighborhood Kids through a mutual friend, the singer-songwriter Grandson.
A few weeks earlier, Morello had never heard of the Neighborhood Kids, but was immediately hooked by “Kids in Cages.”
“It’s delivered with such conviction and authenticity. I just thought that they were lyrically brilliant and that they were committed to their music being a sledgehammer for social justice,” Morello says. “Saw them on Instagram and 20 seconds into the first clip, I was like, this is an incredible band that captures the spirit of what the greatest rock ’n’ roll and hip-hop and punk rock is all about.”
When the call to be part of Defend L.A. came in, the band was scattered. Amon, Verde and DJ JG were playing a gig in Sacramento, where they shot a video clip for their hard-hitting Spanglish-language tune “Third World Problems” in front of the state Capitol. Rosy was on a trip to Rome without his guitar, and the rest of the band were in San Diego. No one wanted to miss the show with Morello, so Rosy flew directly to L.A., and the group reconvened in a nearby rehearsal studio the day of the performance.
The Neighborhood Kids opened the night, after Morello introduced them as “my new favorite band.”
The Neighborhood Kids can operate as either a stripped-down hip-hop trio of the two rappers and turntablist DJ JG, or as a full band, with Rosy on guitar, bassist Emmerson, and drummer Gatoz Locoz. At Echoplex, they landed at full force, backing up the rhymes like an eruption of rage (and Rage).
The rappers wore military vests and keffiyeh scarves, and performed 30 minutes of protest songs that collided hip-hop, funk and metal. “Biddi Bomb” was an antiwar tune that Amon says reflects ongoing tragedies in Gaza, Sudan, Congo and Armenia. “And the Kids Say” is built on wild DJ scratching, with echoes of Rage Against the Machine in the repeated line, “I won’t do what you tell me…” and references to Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit.”
Later in the night, Morello invited them back onstage to freestyle on Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.”
The Neighborhood Kids are a self-sufficient and self-managed young act, though have yet to embark on a national tour. The vocal duo at its core are clearly lovers of hip-hop in the classic mode, and show the influence of Dead Prez and Immortal Technique.
So it’s fitting that the band will perform at Rhyme Fest at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Aug. 17, with a lineup of esteemed hip-hop vets including Xzibit, Dilated Peoples, DJ Quik, the Alchemist and more.
“We’re just advocates of pure hip-hop,” says Amon, standing on the back patio of Echoplex just before their Defend L.A. sound check. “So we do sample-based stuff, but we also have a live band. We’re a band collective. This is our team and family, so whether we make music with them or without them, they figure out a way to be a part of it.”
The Neighborhood Kids full band lineup near the back alley entrance to the Echoplex in Los Angeles. (L to R) Guitarist Niko Rosy, bassist Emmerson, rappers Verde and Amon the MC, turntablist DJ JG, and drummer Gatoz. The San Diego hip-hop group was invited to open Tom Morello’s “Defend L.A.” concert at the Echoplex.
(Steve Appleford/Steve Appleford)
Amon and Verde are also a rare romantic couple fronting a rap group, and say their relationship adds more fuel to their work.
“It’s beautiful being that there’s high tones and then low,” says Verde of their overlapping voices. “It’s beautiful creating with someone that you love. Every song is like a baby almost. It’s like nothing else.”
These last few weeks of ICE activity and protest has already inspired new songs. Asked about their goals as a group, Amon says nothing of awards and chart action, and talks of reinvesting any rewards back into their community in San Diego. He says the desire is to help create more grassroots voices like their own.
“Eventually, we would love to have a nonprofit school of arts and music,” says Amon. “We have a turntablist as DJ, and we’d like him to teach kids how to keep the art of DJing alive. We’d like to teach spoken word and songwriting and other instruments, and keep the creativity flowing.
“And apart from that, we just want to take our message across the whole world.”
While the high-profile Defend L.A. show was meaningful confirmation that the Neighborhood Kids’ message is reaching farther out into the world, they’ve learned to appreciate all crowds, big or small.
“Even if it’s just one person, I learned that it doesn’t matter who’s watching you,” says Verde. “Whether it be a whole crowd or just a couple people, they could change the world too, you know?”
